Album review: Anvil “Legal at Last”
Canadian heavy metal trio Anvil returns with a fab new album filled with straightforward metal.
Anvil is a metal band of the seasoned kind. They’ve been around the block a few times and have their boots on the ground. They are the kind of band who, like AC/DC and Raven, keep going no matter what. They do their own unique thing. They’ve hit a few bumps on the road and they get knocked about once in a while. But they ignore the trends and just keep going, just like they always have since they formed in Toronto in 1978. In today’s Anvil, founding members Steve “Lips” Kudlow on guitar and vocals and drummer Robb Reiner are joined by bassist Chris Robertson who has been in the band since 2014.
“Legal at Last” is the band’s eighteenth full-length album and the follow-up to 2018’s “Pounding the Pavement”. As I had hoped, it is an excellent and trend-ignoring heavy metal album. “Gasoline” is the album’s absolute highlight for me. It is a splendid old-school and riff-happy heavy metal track with a world-class guitar solo. Other great songs on this solid album include “Plastic in Paradise”, “Chemtrails” and “Bottom Line” as well as the catchy “Glass House” and the fun “Nabbed in Nebraska”. “Legal at Last” is a true return to form by Anvil. There are more than just a few hints and nods to the band’s classic early albums here, but without sounding dated. This is what I would refer to as proper heavy metal.
Anvil’s “Legal at Last” will be released on 14th February via AFM Records.
